Small College Basketball Interview

On Sun, May 20, 2018 at 7:51 PM, <chris@austinyouthbasketball.com> wrote:

Hi John,

Thanks for helping out spread the word about small college basketball and coaching.

Please feel free to add any question I should be asking but have not.. and take out any your view as intrusive or pointless. I attached a word doc if you want to just fill that out but if you want the questions they are here too:

Coaches all over America are exposed to the high school coaching scene, select coaching and major college basketball coaching positions. Why is small college basketball coaching a bit of a secret society? I don’t think that it’s a “secret society”. I think that we have many (MANY) very, very good coaches at the small college levels; in many cases, they just don’t get the same level of exposure as the major college coaches that are on t.v., websites, social media, etc. as their counterparts at the NCAA Division I level.

Tell us… what are some of the advantages of life as a small college basketball coach? As a coach, you have a platform to impact the hearts and minds of young people. By the time that players reach the collegiate level, most players are very passionate about the game of basketball. As such, they often experience great highs and lows. I think that it is at these times, during those highs and lows, where coaches can make a tremendous impact on young people.

What are the key challenges to coaching small college basketball not witnessed in other levels? Less resources. This typically includes a smaller staff, smaller budgets, less scholarhips (if any at all). Many coaches at the small college levels hold another position on campus – or another job altogether – to make ends meet. In many circumstances, there are no full-time assistant coaches on staff; as such, the Head Coach is often sweeping floors, washing uniforms, and handling all administrative duties as well.

Who is your favorite small college basketball coach of all time… and why? I’m not going to touch that one…..

How difficult is it to find a small coaching job? What are the typical paths and what are the paths less known you would like to share with an ambitious coach? It is very tough to get a Head Coaching position at the small college level, as it’s incredibly competitive. Depending on the school and circumstance, most Head Coaching positions will receive 100 – 300 applications for the one job. It’s really, really tough to become a Head Coach. It’s a little easier to obtain an assistant coaching position, as there are simply more of them. With this said, many (but not all) of the assistant coaching positions are part-time or volunteer. If coaches are genuinely interested in getting involved in coaching collegiately, they should be willing to work long hours for little or no pay. It can be extremely rewarding in regards to relationships and the ability to impact the lives of others, yet there are typically many challenges “behind the scenes”.

You obviously have a passion for this, why are you not a small college basketball coach? I had privilege to serve as an assistant coach for four years, and a Head Coach for four years. Overall, it was a wonderful experience, and I have some special memories and relationships because of my time as a coach. Today, through Small College Basketball, I have a platform where I feel that I can serve the coaches, players and contributors to our game. The creation of Small College Basketball has been very rewarding to me. Our mission is to UNITE all people with a passion for the game at the small college levels, and to SERVE as ambassadors for our game.

What are the best resources out there for small college basketball coaches looking for jobs? Probably the NCAA and NAIA websites.

Can you share the top 3 developments in small college basketball last year? (NAIA to one division, rise of USCAA come to mind)

What attributes and traits do you see as helpful in becoming a wildly successful small college basketball coach. 1) Sincerely caring about your players – love your players; 2) Focus on creating and maintaining the culture and process (not focusing on the scoreboard) 3) If you want to be a better coach, be a better you. As Don Meyer says, “Your example is not just the main thing in impacting others – it the only thing”. 4) Become a life-long learner.

Where can we learn more about small college basketball… What are your goals this year for your site? The website is www.smallcollegebasketball.com. We believe that the website for Small College Basketball is the most comprehensive site on the overall subject of college basketball at the small college levels. The website is one component of our overall efforts serve the game of basketball at the small college levels.

Bio: Please five me 5 or so sentences, I can pull your pic from the site, and any other websites you wanted to link to.

Here’s a little bit of an older bio: http://www.johncmccarthyjr.com/about-john-mccarthy#.WwSXA0gvxPY

Here’s my bio from the Small College Basketball website: https://www.smallcollegebasketball.com/copy-of-tyler-price

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